You're Not The Only One
by BurnBrighterThanTheSun
Summary: Haymitch and Effie have worked together for years. Each year it was the same. The same teases and taunts, and nothing changed. But one year it did, something was different and it changed the course of their work and their personal relationships.


It was always the same, especially when it came to the two of us. We teased and taunted and picked each other apart. It never changed, who would expect Haymitch Abernathy to change? They worked together for years, with a relationship fueled on sarcasm, wit and too much whiskey on his part.

"Trinket!" Haymitch slurred at her across the table in the table in the District 12 training center apartment.

Effie sipped her tea and leveled a look at him, "That's Effie or Miss Trinket to you."

He laughed, "I'll call you what I want." He grinned over his glass of whiskey.

The two tributes he was supposed to be giving encouraging words to for the private training session, looked at him warily. I offered them a warm smile, they were such darling children. So polite despite their mentor and his many faults.

"Haymitch," Effie stood up and pointed down the hall, she needed to have a word with him. "Excuse us, tributes. We will be right back."

The two tributes nodded and started talking quietly, and Haymitch huffed a bit and trudged down the hall. She came to a stop and crossed her arms, he was going too far. She had let his attitude go on for too long.

"Haymitch, it's barely 9 in the morning and you are drunk. You have a job to be doing! You need to counsel those kids, they won't have a chance if you keep ignoring them!" Effie whispered angrily.

"They don't have a chance anyway." He waved his hand at me with annoyance.

"With that attitude they won't!" She breathed trying to keep her voice down. "God, Haymitch do your job!"

"I've done my job for years, sweetheart." He glared angrily, "All I get is 2 dead kids every year."

"Maybe you should stop drinking and focus on them! They have a game to play, you need to be sober to help them." Effie hissed through a whisper, concerned that the tributes could hear them. "Do not call me sweetheart!"

Haymitch laughed, "I've already told you, darling, I will call you what I what when I see fit." He leaned closer to her stinking of hard liquor. "I'll stop drinking the day you stop wearing so much make-up."

With a roll of her eyes, "There is nothing wrong with my make-up! There's something wrong with all the liquor you drink."

He crossed his arms now, looking back at her with narrowed eyes. "We all can't have a perfect life princess. I have.."

"Do not lecture me on being perfect. You, Haymitch Abernathy, are not the only person in this room with demons." Effie walked away, and Haymitch never returned.

Effie took the tributes down for their Private Trainings and saw to it that they were escorted back, and again no Haymitch. Dinner was silent and she couldn't help but feel sorry for the tributes. Effie forced smiled and cheers as their scores came up and they both did so well.

"Miss Trinket?" The girl pipped up after the scores.

"Yes, dear?"

"Has Mr. Abernathy been like this because he thinks we won't live past day one?" She sounded cautious.

Oh how it boiled her blood, "Of course not, he is… indisposed for the day. I promise you he will be here tomorrow morning."

Effie ushered them off to bed proclaiming of them needing beauty sleep for the interviews tomorrow. She put up with Haymitch and his antics for years, but this year he was an intolerable pain in her ass. With a heavy sigh she walked down the hall and stared at his door. Soon to come yet another fight full of sarcasm and wit. She knocked on his door and heard him grumble, "Go away, Trinket."

Effie pushed on the door handles and found them locked. With an exasperated sigh she fished a card from her skirt pocket. She took the liberty each year to get a copy of his key for just the instance that he would pass out drunk in his room. She swiped it into the reader and heard the satisfying clicks, and walked in.

"What the hell!" He groaned and set his glass of whiskey down, the bottle still in his hand. "Since when does an escort get a key to my room!"

"Well, I'm not an escort anymore in case you haven't heard, which I suspect because you've been holed up in here. I'm the new District 12 mentor. While you were laid up in here I took YOUR tributes to training and collected them afterwards. I watched their scores come up with them and gave them tips for tomorrow." She crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes.

He had nothing to say he just stared back and smirked.

"Do you know that they think you've abandoned them? You should have seen the girl at dinner." She pried on, getting agitated.

"Sweetheart, if you wanted to do my job all you had to do was ask." He smirked and took a long pull from his bottle.

Effie puffed up and clenched her fists, "I do not want to do your job, Haymitch! Mine is big enough. I'd appreciate it if you would man up and do what you need to do."

Haymitch stood up and strolled toward her, "You…" He looked her up and down, "Need to relax. Have a drink, Trinket." He offered her a glass of whiskey.

"Relax…" She glanced at him, "Alright.. I'll lay up in my room and drink all day. I'll forget my duties, and abandon two kids to die because I simply don't want to try hard to save them."

"Stop it, right now!" He groaned and stepped closer to her, he too was growing weary of her.

"Is it too hard for you Haymitch?" She asked, "Is it too hard to try and care? Put on a fake smile and fake it if you have to! It's a game, you need to start playing it again!" Effie glowered at him.

"For once in your life, Effie, shut up." He ran a hand through his hair, and his face winced as she kept talking.

"Oh, I'm not done here yet." She snipped.

"I'm warning you, stop." He stared at her, god for once would this woman just shut up.

"Why can't you be the mentor I know you can be? You pretend to be this careless drunk. I get you have demons. Join the club, but right now, it's not about you! It's about that 14 year old girl and the 16 year old boy you need to coach! Stop making excuses for yourself!"

Haymitch growled and pushed her up against the wall, not roughly but hard enough to finally make her shut up. He pressed his lips to hers and finally she was quiet.

Effie stilled against him as her mind reeling from what was going on. Haymitch was kissing her, but why? Haymitch deepened the kiss and then he found himself pleasantly surprise that Effie was kissing him back.

Effie pulled away and gasped, "What are you doing?" Her blue eyes widened.

Haymitch laughed, "I think the question is, Princess, why were you kissing me back?" He cracked a wide smile.


End file.
